Vancouver walk for Alzheimer’s raises awareness for the condition

Locals gathered together at False Creek in Vancouver’s Olympic Village on Sunday to take part in an Alzheimer’s walk aimed at raising awareness for the disease.

One caretaker spoke with CityNews and explained what it’s like for them to support a loved one with the condition.

Fifteen years ago, Itti Ma found out her mother had been diagnosed with vascular dementia — a condition that deteriorates brain function. Ma had noticed behavioural changes in her mother, including memory loss, which worsened over time. Ma then took on a caregiver role for her mother.

“It is sometimes frustrating, sometimes lonely, because they’re not exactly the same person that they were before they had Alzheimer’s, but you do what you have to do,” she said. 

She says raising awareness for Alzheimer’s is important, along with having community support.

“So many of us are affected [by] dementia and Alzheimer’s, whether we have it ourselves or whether we care for people who have it, and studies are showing that it is going to be more prevalent in society,” she added.

Roger Wong, a clinical professor at the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of British Columbia, says there are thousands of people who have the disease.

“Currently there are 600,000 Canadians with Alzheimer’s disease, and if nothing changes that number will triple to 1.7 million people in the next 30 years,” Wong said.

Locals gathered together at False Creek in Vancouver’s Olympic Village on Sunday to take part in an Alzheimer’s walk aimed at raising awareness for the disease. (Angela Bower, CityNews Image)

He says people who have suffered a stroke, or those with diabetes or high cholesterol, have a higher chance of developing Alzheimer’s — but he says there are lifestyle changes that can improve brain function, including eating healthy.

“We know that exercise, or physical activity, what is good for the body is good for the brain. Regular routine exercise, up to 150 minutes a week, is always helpful, and we know that socialization is very helpful,” he explained.

Ma adds the importance of keeping her mother engaged and her work at helping her mom remember things.

“I try to give her pictures to look at, we watch videos, and I try to video call with relatives when I can,” she said.

Barbra Lindsay from the Alzheimer Society of B.C. says those living with this condition may forget important memories and even who their loved ones are and that can be very isolating.

“What we’ve learned is that this disease is always changing. Things you can do today you might not be able to do tomorrow and it may be really hard to face changes like being able to drive one day and then, over time, not being able to,” she said.

Ma says that raising awareness is important.

“If we want to be able to care for our loved one effectively and if we ever want to find a cure for this, we need to be aware.”